‘They’re going to kill me’ - Mohamed Salah makes ‘crazy’ admission and admits big Liverpool change

Mohamed Salah is already eyeing Premier League or Champions League glory for Liverpool this season. The Egyptian has started the season in sensational form, returning three goals and three assists from the first three games of the season.

With the Reds enjoying an 100% winning start to the campaign under new head coach Arne Slot, they currently sit second in the table, behind reigning champions Man City on goals scored alone.

Salah is out of contract at Anfield next summer, but the ECHO confirmed earlier this week that he wants to stay at Liverpool in a special report. This followed the forward revealing contract talks had not yet been held and suggesting it could be his last season with the club after he starred in the Reds’ 3-0 victory away at Manchester United last weekend.

READ MORE: Newcastle speak out on Liverpool transfer business as Anthony Gordon opportunity missed

READ MORE: When Jurgen Klopp will make Liverpool return after emotional Borussia Dortmund comeback

It remains to be seen if this will prove to be the 32-year-old’s last season at Liverpool. But after starting the campaign in impressive form, helping to allay any fears about the Reds’ credentials following Jurgen Klopp’s departure, Salah has set his sights on winning a ‘big trophy’ as he looks to add to a haul that has already seen him win every major prize with the club.

“We’ve had a few conversations,” he said of Slot ahead of last weekend’s win over United when answering supporters' questions in a Q&A with the Premier League. “I think so far the team is playing good, which is the most important thing.

“Myself also playing well. We just need to carry on and try to win a big trophy this season. I love playing big games for the club. United, everybody knows the history between both clubs.

“I think first two seasons, I didn’t score. That’s crazy. I think people were saying like he doesn’t like big games or he’s not doing good enough in that big game, but I was lucky to score my first goal and after that things come easier.”

Salah is currently Liverpool’s fifth all-time leading goalscorer with 214 goals from 352 appearances. Meanwhile, he’s 10th in the all-time Premier League charts with 160 goals, and joint-12th in the Champions League rankings with 44 goals.

But having scored more than 25 goals in all but one of his previous seven seasons with the Reds, the forward is well-placed to climb higher up such lists.

A 31-goal season would see him climb to third in Liverpool’s all-time rankings, overtaking both Billy Liddell and Gordon Hodgson in the process, while a 20-goal Premier League campaign would see him move level with Frank Lampard at sixth on 177 goals in the English top-flight’s modern charts. A place in the top four would also be well within his sights, with Sergio Aguero and Andrew Cole also catchable if he enjoyed a 30-goal domestic season.

Meanwhile, a prolific season in the expanded Champions League will see Salah at least break into the top 10. His next goal in the competition will make him the highest-scoring African in its history, while he is six short of the 50-goal mark which would see him overtake the legendary figures of Alfredo Di Stefano, Andriy Shevchenko, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eusebio and Filippo Inzaghi.

Salah admits that he wasn’t a natural goalscorer when he first joined Liverpool, with such a trait developing over time. And while he stopped short of revealing which goalscoring target he is chasing down next, he has already achieved the one that drove him most crazy.

“The one I was into it too much was Premier League record for the club,” he admitted. “That was in my head, that’s why I took the shirt off against United (after scoring his record 129th league goal for Liverpool in their 7-0 victory at Anfield in March 2023).

“No, that (being a goalscorer) developed with time. When I was at Roma, in two seasons I scored 30 goals. Now if I score 30 goals in two seasons, they’re going to kill me here!

“But I think that changed a lot, especially in my first season I won the Golden Boot so the expectation becomes bigger and bigger and bigger.”